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March 20, 2025 – Ash Sutton delivered a masterclass in tyre management and racecraft to win the second British Touring Car Championship race at Croft, holding off competitors on softer rubber despite being forced onto hard-compound tyres on a still-damp track. The victory extended his championship lead to 114 points, a margin that looks increasingly daunting for rivals.
Starting from the front row after qualifying second, Sutton immediately passed polesitter Josh Cook around the outside at Tower bend on the opening lap. The NAPA Racing Ford Focus Titanium driver, along with Cook and Tom Ingram, was required to use the hard tyres due to top-three finishes in the earlier race. While the track was drying, the hard compound offered significantly less grip than the soft rubber used by most of the field, making Sutton’s challenge even more remarkable.
As Sutton pulled away, Ingram in his Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundai i30 N Fastback dispatched Cook at the chicane on lap four. The Toyota Corolla of Cook then came under pressure from the softer-shod cars behind. A chaotic moment at the complex saw Daryl De Leon, who had just passed Ricky Collard for fourth, make contact with Cook, spinning the West Surrey Racing BMW down the order. Collard took avoiding action, and Dan Rowbottom somehow emerged in third place in his CPRL Mercedes A35 Saloon.
Rowbottom passed Ingram around the outside of the Jim Clark Esses on lap seven, and Collard quickly followed his Excelr8 Hyundai teammate past at the hairpin. With Rowbottom and Collard now second and third on advantageous tyres, they held a significant TOCA Turbo Boost advantage over Sutton. The leader’s margin stood at 5.6 seconds with eight laps remaining, but the soft-tyre cars were closing quickly.
However, news soon emerged that both Rowbottom and Collard had been handed 5-second penalties for track-limits violations. Even if they had caught and passed Sutton, the victory would still belong to the four-time champion. Rowbottom trimmed the on-road gap to just 1.073 seconds at the flag, but Sutton crossed the line first, completing what seemed an impossible task: winning on the hard tyres in damp conditions while giving away a turbo boost deficit.
“It’s not often I’ve been welled up over a race win,” Sutton said after the race. “Tony [Antonio Carrozza, his engineer] came over the radio and said, ‘I thought second place in race two at Donington [also on hard tyres] was spectacular, but that was phenomenal.’ And that broke me up a bit. We’re in such a sweet spot on the hard tyres, that it kind of negates it a little. From the moment I came over the line to start lap two, Tony said, ‘Right, qualifying laps, go.’”
In the battle for the podium, Ingram fell back after losing positions to Rowbottom and Collard. Then Dan Cammish, driving the Alliance Ford, saw a gap at Sunny In but Ingram moved across to close the door. Contact sent the reigning champion’s Hyundai onto the grass and into a head-on impact with the barrier at Sunny Out, forcing his retirement. Cammish finished fourth, too far behind the penalized pair to inherit a podium, but the result moved him ahead of Ingram in the standings – 114 points behind Sutton.
Charles Rainford crossed the line fifth in his West Surrey Racing BMW, just behind Cammish. Aiden Moffat (Power Maxed Racing Audi) overtook Gordon Shedden (Speedworks Toyota) on the final lap for sixth, but a track-limits penalty dropped him to ninth. Meanwhile, Cook on his hard tyres did an excellent job holding off a train of cars until Dan Lloyd caused race-ending damage to the Toyota at Tower on the penultimate lap. Lloyd’s Restart Racing Hyundai was promoted to seventh in the final results, ahead of Tom Chilton (Excelr8 Hyundai). The reversed-grid pole for race three went to Mikey Doble.
Exclusive Analysis: Sutton’s Dominance and the Title Picture
Sutton’s performance at Croft further cements his reputation as a master of tyre preservation. The NAPA Racing team’s setup on the hard compound has been a key factor this season, allowing Sutton to maintain competitive lap times even when rivals have a grip advantage. With four wins already this year, the gap to second-placed Cammish (114 points) gives Sutton a comfortable buffer as the season approaches its midpoint. However, the next round at Oulton Park, known for its tight and twisty layout, could present a different challenge – especially if race-day weather again forces tyre strategy decisions. Team principal Andy Brooks commented: “Ash’s drive today was one of the best we’ve seen.
